1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to precipitation gages and, more particularly, relates to a precipitation gage using a magnetostrictive transducer to measure precipitation levels.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Precipitation gages are well known to include a generally cylindrical cavity having an upwardly facing opening configured to collect precipitation, such as rain or snow. Conventional precipitation gages typically include mechanical mechanisms that output signals indicative of the amount of precipitation within the cylinder. For instance, a precipitation gage may include a spring or other type of compressive element that is positioned at the bottom of the cylinder and compresses as precipitation accumulates within the cylinder. The amount of compression is thereby converted to the amount of precipitation based on the known spring constant.
Another precipitation gage currently used includes a pressure transducer that outputs signals corresponding to the amount of pressure sensed within the cylinder, which will change according to the amount of precipitation within the cylinder.
The amount of spring compression or, alternatively, the signals output by the pressure transducer are fed into a data manipulation system, which translates the signals into measured precipitation levels. Unfortunately, these precipitation gages are subject to fluctuations due to the wide variations in ambient temperature that occur throughout a given year, which affect the sensitivity of the spring constant, and additionally affect the ambient pressure which could thereby limit the effectiveness of a pressure transducer. Spring gages are additionally costly to manufacture.
What is therefore needed is a precipitation gage that is robust to temperature fluctuations, and that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a magnetostrictive precipitation gage includes an elongated catch tube having an upwardly facing opening and a base and is configured to receive precipitation therein. A magnetostrictive transducer includes a rod extending upwardly from the base and a corresponding buoyant magnetized float that is linearly displaceable along the rod. Therefore, as precipitation accumulates within the catch tube, the rod senses the placement of the float and the magnetostrictive transducer outputs voltage signals to a data logger, which is configured to process the voltage signals and output data reflecting the precipitation levels over a given period of time.
These as well as other features and characteristics of the present invention will be apparent from the description which follows. In the detailed description below, preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments do not represent the full scope of the invention. Rather the invention may be employed in other embodiments. Reference should therefore be made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of the invention.